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BestsellerE-book
Author Cohen, Michael R. (Michael Ralph), 1978- author.

Title Cotton capitalists : American Jewish entrepreneurship in the Reconstruction era / Michael R. Cohen.

Publication Info. New York : New York University Press, [2017]

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xv, 259 pages .)
text file PDF
Series The Goldstein-Goren series in American Jewish history
Goldstein-Goren series in American Jewish history.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary In the nineteenth century, Jewish merchants created a thriving niche economy in the United States' most important industry-cotton-positioning themselves at the forefront of expansion during the Reconstruction Era. Jewish success in the cotton industry was transformative for both Jewish communities and their development, and for the broader economic restructuring of the South. Cotton Capitalists analyzes this niche economy and reveals its origins. Michael R. Cohen argues that Jewish merchants' status as a minority fueled their success by fostering ethnic networks of trust. Trust in the nineteenth century was the cornerstone of economic transactions, and this trust was largely fostered by ethnicity. Much as money flowed along ethnic lines between Anglo-American banks, Jewish merchants in the Gulf South used their own ethnic ties with other Jewish-owned firms in New York, as well as Jewish investors across the globe, to capitalize their businesses. They relied on these family connections to direct Northern credit and goods to the war-torn South, avoiding the constraints of the anti-Jewish prejudices which had previously denied them access to credit, allowing them to survive economic downturns. These American Jewish merchants reveal that ethnicity matters in the development of global capitalism. Ethnic minorities are and have frequently been at the forefront of entrepreneurship, finding innovative ways to expand narrow sectors of the economy. While this was certainly the case for Jews, it has also been true for other immigrant groups more broadly.
Contents Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Maps -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. The Antebellum Cotton Economy -- 2. The War Years -- 3. Timing Is Everything -- 4. Networks from Above -- 5. Networks from Below -- 6. The End of the Niche Economy -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Index -- About the Author
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Language In English.
Subject Cotton trade -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Cotton trade.
United States.
History.
Chronological Term 19th century
Subject Entrepreneurship -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Entrepreneurship.
Jews -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
United States -- Commerce -- History.
Commerce.
Jews.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Commerce.
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Industries -- General.
Chronological Term 1800-1899
Genre/Form History.
Other Form: Print version: Cohen, Michael R. (Michael Ralph), 1978- Cotton capitalists. New York : New York University Press, [2017] 9781479879700 1479879703 (DLC) 2017008082 (OCoLC)973481585
ISBN 9781479843527 (electronic book)
1479843520 (electronic book)
9781479879700
1479879703
1479881015
9781479881017
Standard No. 10.18574/9781479843527